Senate rejects revised iSTARS bill

BOISE - The Senate turned down a revised version of the iSTARS teacher pay increase and bonus plan here Friday.

The acronym iSTARS means Idaho State Teacher Advancement and Recognition System.

The $20.55 million iSTARS executive branch plan had been promoted in recent weeks by Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna and on Tuesday was formally supported by Gov. Butch Otter.

Originally a $60 million plan when Luna unveiled it six months ago, the changed merit pay plan embodied in Senate Bill 1436 was defeated early Friday afternoon when 19 of 35 senators in the Idaho Legislature voted against the measure.

Similar in closeness to the overall Senate vote, the North Idaho Senate delegation from legislative Districts 1-5 voted 3-2 in favor of SB 1436.

North Idaho senators voting in favor of the measure included Sens. John Goedde, R-Coeur d'Alene; Mike Jorgenson, R-Hayden Lake; and Jim Hammond, R-Post Falls.

Sens. Joyce Broadsword, R-Cocolalla, and Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, cast opposing votes on SB 1436.

A leading legislative budget writer said the money isn't available to fund the plan.

“We've had declining revenues, the economic conditions have not been good, we've set a budget target, and we're working very, very hard to hit that target,” said Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, co-chair of the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee.

Cameron added: “It would put us $9 to $10 million over our target.”

Cameron, who voted against SB 1436, noted that about 49 percent of the state budget appropriation would go to K-12 public schools, but that other critical items within the entire budget would have to be reduced for iSTARS to be accommodated.

“That's not a workable budget,” Cameron said.

The final legislative version of the iSTARS plan had been stripped of original Luna provisions for trading teacher benefits for higher pay while attempting to terminate some teacher contracts.

Goedde during debate defended the use of the Idaho Standards Achievement Test for determining school staff bonuses and pay increases under the Luna merit pay plan.

The legislation tied school staff bonuses to student achievement growth on the ISAT.

Use of the ISAT as the sole criteria for determining merit pay has been strongly criticized by officials at the Idaho Education Assocation.

“The ISAT is the only current measure that we can display the results of Dalton Elementary School in Coeur d'Alene against Taft Elementary School in Boise; the only thing that we can legitimately use to measure those two buildings,” said Goedde, the Senate floor co-sponsor of SB 1436.

“It's something that's going to change the face of education from here forward,” said SB 1436 sponsor Goedde of the iSTARS “pay-for-performance,” concept.

But on this day, the life of iSTARS wasn't going to continue.

After saying he considers Goedde to be “a good friend,” and Luna to be “a good man,” who “cares about teachers,” Cameron dismantled SB 1436 during Senate floor debate.

“The bill, in my opinion, is flawed,” Cameron said. “It does not call for an appropriation, it does not seek an appropriation.”

Cameron said the budget committee wouldn't be legally required to appropriate money under the bill's terms.

“This gives me some comfort, but puts me in a real awkward position,” Cameron said. “Because, then, if this bill passes, I've got a public policy statement, which is in essence the bill, but I do not have a legal authority or right or obligation to fund it accordingly.”

Otter had expressed his support for the so-called “iSTARS Lite” legislation in a Tuesday news release.

“Superintendent Luna's plan meets my requirements that any pay increase for public schools maximize our limited resources and be based on performance,” the governor said in the news release.

Luna on Monday told the Senate Education Committee that if SB 1436 failed, he would exclude the iSTARS idea from his legislative priority list for next year.

“Will this be a priority if we don't get it done this year?” Luna said. “Quite frankly: no.”

SB 1436 cut Luna's original request for $2,400 per teacher bonuses in half, putting “average” teacher bonuses at $1,200. Another section of the measure enabled all certified school staff to earn annual bonuses ranging from $600 to $1,200.